ultimate.brumicon.com

We here at BRUMICON think some rules for Minecraft servers are kind of silly. We asked ourselves these questions:

Does a rule about no griefing or stealing actually stop players from doing so?

Does a rule about hacking or cheating actually influence hackers and cheaters?

Does a rule telling players to have fun actually make people have fun?

Does a player who breaks the rule of having fun suffer the same consequences as griefing?

Does a rule about not advertising for other servers really keep players from leaving?

When you think about it, many server rules are actually counter-productive. They frustrate players who follow them, and encourage those who don’t. That is why BRUMICON has decided not to post any rules for our Minecraft server.

Instead, we have three core principles that we go by:

Principle 1: There are no ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’ players; just players who play for different reasons.

If asked why people play Minecraft, you might hear that they play to mine materials and build structures/items. But this is not the only reason to play Minecraft. If so, everyone would simply play single mode. Many players however, enjoy showing off their building skills to others. Some simply enjoy the fellowship and chatting with like-minded people. Others enjoy the challenge of building and influencing a dynamic economy. Still others see Minecraft as a place to test and refine their technical skills by griefing, cheating, and hacking. A majority of players will play the game for a combination of these. Ultimately though, Minecraft is just a video-game and players enjoy playing it for different reasons.

Principle 2: Incentives are a better motivator than fear of punishment.

Rather than threatening to ban players who do not follow made-up rules, we at BRUMICON have decided on a NO-BAN policy. Instead, we feel a reward system is more effective. Every single aspect of our server is considered a privilege and must be earned. Even things such as teleporting, sethomes, and messaging other players are considered privileges. We grant each new player a certain amount of privileges when they join. If the player wishes to progress, we have mapped out three paths to choose from; all of which lead to a staff position. If they contribute to a positive experience, we will unlock privileges as they progress. However, if a player continues to grief players and disrespect others, they can walk the world alone, isolated, and incapacitated. Each player can choose for themselves what they want. We will not ban a player for what choice they make.

Principle 3: Loyal players make the best staff.

A bad staff member can turn a fun server into a nightmare very quickly. Nobody wants to be jailed or muted by a young staff member who is power-hungry. And it can be frustrating to ask an older staff member for help who doesn’t even know the difference between MJ and EU. However, the young staff member may know everything about Minecraft power while the older staff member may have years of experience tactfully dealing with trouble-makers. Therefore, we have broken staff responsibilities into three separate paths. Each path regulates another path, yet is regulated by the remaining path (think Paper/Rock/Scissors). Every player has the ability to become a staff member and pursue a path based on their play-style.